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tv   Full Court Press  Current  November 15, 2012 3:00am-6:00am PST

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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show." good morning. this is current tv. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill from our nation's capital right here in washington, d.c. we have a spectacular show for you. i promise you i'll do my best to make sure you don't miss bill one little bit. from the bipartisan center, dan glickman and congressman joins us this morning as well as jonathan on his excellent new piece on the post-election america in "new york" magazine. zeke miller, share our strength chief officer and comedian dino,
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your muslim pal. we'll be having a lot of great guests, talking about mitt romney's ultimate screw you which he gifted us with yesterday and general petraeus, the c.i.a. had no idea when he said i wanted to tap that, he meant something completely different. let's go to lisa ferguson for a current news update. >> hey john. always good to have you on the show. good morning everyone. the president is dealing with the aftermath of hurricane sandy today. he heads to new york this morning to look at the damage and to thank first responders who risked their lives last month. later this evening president obama will host the cast and crew of the movie "lincoln" for a screening at the white house. he is coming off a very important news conference yesterday. not only was this the first since his re-election, it was also the first he's held in eight months. several reporters did want to talk about the general petraeus scandal, of course but the president fortunately did get to spend a lot of time on the fiscal cliff which is what he was hoping for. while left room for a compromise
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by not taking a hard, red line on taxes he did say that he will not extend cuts for the rich. >> obama: when it comes to the top 2%, what i'm not going to do is to extend further tax cut for folks who don't need it which would cost close to a trillion dollars. >> senate democrats are hoping he will stick to that claim and not compromise. with republicans they're asking the president not to cave in on talks over the fiscal cliff. those do start tomorrow. west virginia's jay rockefeller and iowa's tom harkin are passing around a letter and hoping that at least 30 senators will sign on. now that letter calls for the president to stand firm on revenue entitlement programs and spending cuts. while the president did stop short of using the term "mandate" during the press conference yesterday he did repeatedly mention his election victory, laying the tone he will have the final say on taxes.
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we're back after the break. stay with us. you're about to watch an ad message created by a current tv viewer for capella university. matter. i've been a nurse since 1979. i love being a nurse. a few years ago a friend i went to grade school with showed me a book she had kept from third grade. i had written that i wanted to be a nurse. after being a nurse for about twenty years i decided that i need to further my education. my masters degree was done completely online and that gave me the freedom and ability to do my education while i raised my kids and worked full time. raising my kids as a single mom and having them see me get my education online and work full-time has given them the opportunity to see that they can do anything that they want to. i'm currently the hospital administrator for two public hospitals. we serve patients who might not otherwise get care. i teach an online nursing program. i feel that i'm giving back something to the nurses that are
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning long with all y'all. please feel free to give us a call at 1-866-55-press. we're on your radio we're on your computer. we're on current tv. it is a pleasure to be spending this morning with you. lots going on today and lots to share. from the bipartisan policy center senior fellow, former congressman, former agricultural secretary dan glickman will be joining us to talk about the work they're doing this week in new orleans. bring you republicans and democrats together.
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whether it works or not. "new york" magazine columnist jonathan will be joining us as well as "buzzfeed" reporter. josh will be here to talk about the no kid hungry project. and finally comedian dean abdullah, a guy i had a pleasure of doing laughing liberally with off broadway, wake up your right wing -- he's muslim. good morning dan. >> thanks for coming in. we appreciate your presence. >> john: thank you. i was in l.a. all week. and i just got back to new york yesterday morning from the red eye and then took the line down last night come here. i got to ride on a car with madeleine albright. >> you said that. i would have thought she would get her own train car. >> john: i would have thought she had her own train. she was sitting right there in front. i don't get knocked down by celebrities all that much. i've worked with half the
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beatles but seeing secretary albright on pretty stunning. two rows behind her was david al gore's lawyer in bush versus gore. >> it was a party. >> john: it was a great ride. it is always fun to be here as well. thank you for having me. >> good to see you. >> john: we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. we got a lot to talk about of course. general david petraeus, this is going to be a bit of a story. it is deeply embarrassing to me, as an american, that on the same day the new james bond film opens, america's top spy has to resign for having sex with one person. deeply humiliating to our national pride. and especially considering -- i guess you could say that general petraeus killed enough people to run the c.i.a. but making love to one person cost him the job. so we want to know your thoughts on that and this ever widening, ever more scandalous affair.
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now it involves, i believe, half of the state of virginia who have -- who have been hit on by jill kelley and it is only going to get uglier. i also want to say i'm going to be talking about my plot today to institute, to have the president, by executive order implement a david petraeus conspiracy theory tax which would balance the budget by christmastime. likewise, mitt romney, i gotta say, i missed mitt. we had a whole week of no mitt romney in our lives first time in two years. >> empty feeling in my heart. >> john: was for me, too. i really believe that governor romney was so convinced he was going to win because he's been listening to his advisors who live in a bubble. i did feel sorry for him until he came out yesterday and pretty much did a triple axle flip-flop and said screw you 47% but a different 47% all over again. the susan rice controversy which i don't really know if it is a real controversy or if it is just republicans trying to play
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politics over something. we'll be getting to that as well. the fiscal cliff right now somewhere in america a man named cliff is plotting on killing the coworker who keeps calling him fiscal. finally, secession because really folks why don't you just go overseas and be ignorant there for awhile. i have one rule on secession if you can't spell it, you're not allowed to do it. or am i wrong dan? if you can't spell it, should you be encouraged to do it? >> when you say you want to secede and become part of canada or move to another country where they accept gay marriage, then your adjust an idiot. >> john: they have so insulted the rest of the world for everything, there's no one who would take them. go ahead and secede and try to restart the confederacy again. let's put that on tv and make that a pay-per-view special and balance the budget that way. take your calls as always at 1-866-55-press. let's begin with the susan rice issue. of course, on september 11th,
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2012 as you all know, our embassy was attacked over a video on youtube, that was a trailer for the unwatchful film, innocence of muslims. of course, i'm talking about our embassy in cairo egypt. local tv host had played this clip incessantly and raging muslims -- enraging muslims throughout egypt who stormed our embassy and tore down the american flag and put up an islamist flag. a few hours later the -- they said it was over the video even though the next day the president referred to it as an act of terror. four americans were killed including our ambassador. ever since then, our republican friends have been using this terror attack, i'm sorry did i say using? i meant exploiting this terror attack to smear the president in any way they can. as you know, in 9-11-01 a
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terror attack is a reason to unite and cheer a president and in 9-11-12, it is an excuse to smear a president. there have been rumors of course that the president might be nominating susan rice, our u.n. ambassador to be his next secretary of state. and the most unlikely love couple of all in d.c., john mccain and lindsey graham got together to -- well, to say a lot of ignorant stuff. let's begin with john mccain's clip if we can. dan, this is john mccain on -- john mccain by the way who voted to approve condoleezza rice as secretary of state. talking about susan rice. here's the clip. >> susan rice should have known better and if she didn't know better, she's not qualified. she should have known better. i would do everything in my power to block her from being the united states secretary of state. she has proven that she either doesn't understand or she is not willing to accept evidence on its face. >> john: that was the man who
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thought sarah palin was qualified to be president talking about someone who doesn't understand. now not to be outdone senator lindsey graham, the most interesting of all southern republicans i would say came out a few hours later and took a break from his momentarily bouts of sanity to say this. >> die trust her in two ways. if she didn't know this was a terrorist attack then she didn't look very hard. why do you pick her? what responsibility does she have over the benghazi consulate. nobody sent her a request for fortification. why wasn't the secretary of state telling us about benghazi? >> john: okay. the secretary of state did talk about benghazi you about the u.n. ambassador came out initially and talked about it. maybe lindsey graham has a point maybe they put the wrong spokesman out. i don't think so. they're looking for fault in this president any way they can. i can promise you one thing if governor romney won the white house, we wouldn't be hearing about benghazi ever again. because he didn't, we'll be
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hearing about benghazi, they'll try to make it their whitewater. it will be going on for awhile. now these men lindsay graham and john mccain both voted for another rice to be secretary of state. of course, i'm talking about condoleezza rice. after september 11th, 2001, the greatest national security failure in history, you would think the first person to be fired would be the national security adviser. instead, she was promoted to secretary of state. and she was a dutiful soldier to george w. bush. we remember condoleezza rice talking about a mushroom cloud and helping lie america into a war. they had no problem with that. and this is my problem with the benghazi outrage my friends. i want to know your thoughts at 1-866-55-press. if you have bad intel that leads to a war that kills thousands of americans, that's okay. you get a pass. you get promoted. if you get bad intel after four americans have been killed. that's an impeachable offense.
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this is the hypocrisy of benghazi. our question for the day is what do you say to your right wing coworkers when they begin saying benghazi? and you're a right-winger listening to the show, let me say benghazi, benghazi, benghazi benghazi because that's fox dialogue these days. we do want to know your thoughts. now, the president, of course, came right out and defended secretary -- ambassador rice. can we hear that first clip, dan. >> obama: let me say specifically about susan rice, she has do not exemplary work. she has represented the united states and our interests in the united nations with skill and professionalism and toughness and grace. >> john: well-spoken. he came out a few minutes later and this, i guess would probably be the clip of the day yesterday where we saw the guy we voted for in 2008. >> obama: if senator mccain and senator graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.
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and i'm happy to have that discussion with them. but for them to go after the u.n. ambassador? who had nothing to do with benghazi? and was simply making a presentation based on intelligence that she had received? and besmirch her reputation? it is outrageous. >> john: dan, it seems pretty open and shut to me. what's your take? >> absolutely. >> john: i don't know how you can argue this. i wonder if senator mccain and senator graham are doing this to put the president on defense during a week when he should be coasting and being happy. >> absolutely. they got smacked last week and they're looking for any way to stay in the headlines and they saw this as an opportunity. they saw a door opening slightly and said let's take the opportunity. let's slam this down. we can get some republican headlines on the benghazi. >> john: i've never seen a terrorist attack exploited like
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this since the attacks of 9-11 were exploited to justify a war with a country that never attacked us. and again i'm sorry i wasn't here last week. i watched the show last week. it must have been very, very exciting for bill and everyone here on election night and the next day. it must have been a lot of fun for you guys. >> oh, yeah. it was magical and it was huge and then just to watch the -- the three days after, through friday, it was all just watching the self-destruction of the republican party. them sort of eating each other alive. >> john: fantastic. i want to talk about that today too. karl rove, watching the karl rove meltdown was like porn for moral people. >> it was great! >> john: it really was. like a little child asked me who that was. i said that's karl rove. he used to be president for eight years along with dick cheney of course. it was so hilarious to watch karl rove just completely unravel. watching all of fox news unravel. i think the most fun part about it was the realization that the morning after election day last week the koch brothers and
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sheldon adelson woke up and realized the republican party had redistributed their wealth. >> let me ask you a question. do you think that karl rove still has credibility among republicans or are they going to ask him to come back and run the next election? >> john: the fact that he squandered $100 million proves one thing. he can raise money. i don't think you'll ever see him back as big again. he probably alienated a lot of people. he raised $100 million and every candidate he backed, lost. >> not good. >> john: i want to talk about election night. i had the unique experience of covering it with vice president gore and governor granholm and governor spitzer. we're talking about everything on your mind. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill. it is the "bill press show." we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show" live on your radio and current tv. perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope.
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you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?
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>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, it is 24 minutes after the hour. talking about jeb bush yesterday coming down, clasping down hard >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning long. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. and taking your tweets at bpshow or on the twitter on at john fuglesang. which is my name. i apologize for being the whitest guy with the most ethnic name ever. according to "the daily caller," worthy resource, less than a week after a new orleans suburbanite petitioned the white house to it's allow louisiana to secede from the u.s., petitions from seven states have collected
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enough signatures to trigger a promised review from the obama administration. the report notes that 69 similar petitions according to the alter net have garnered over 670,000 signatures from all 50 states. prompting a review that will no doubt consist of junior white house staffers enjoying a good laugh before placing them in a circular file. not to be left out someone offered another petition to the administration to strip the citizenship from everyone who signed the petition to secede and exile them. so it is good to know after the election and a decisive democratic victory that we are all united now and will never fight again. travis is calling us from chicago, illinois. good morning travis. you're on the "bill press show." welcome. >> caller: good morning, john. >> john: what a pleasure. >> caller: every time i hear all of this big uproar about benghazi thing, it makes me sick because out here in chicago we've got about 20 kids killing each other every weekend. most of them are innocent bystanders getting killed. there is a good handful of
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little kids who get shot in the process, too. there's no investigation. there's no media attention to it. and nobody's really doing anything about it. >> john: and you know why that is travis. there is no political gain in trying to help people living in chicago. there's no way republicans can get votes that way or raise funds that way. i thank you for the call. he's exactly right. it is the most stark example of the benghazi hypocrisy that these guys don't care about american debts here but if they can get a few cheap political points overseas. jack is calling us from newport oregon. you're up insanely early. what's wrong with you? >> i'm retired. i wake up every morning about 2:30 and your show is on. >> we love you for it. >> john: thank you. you and my mom both. but 2:30, i'm impressed. >> caller: i enjoy the show, too. >> john: bill does a great
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show. it is a pleasure to drag it down to my base level. >> caller: i want to talk about john mccain. i wonder why he has any credibility left at all. the last four years, every time there's been any kind of skirmish in the world you know, he's ready to go to war. and you know, i can't believe there's any commentary going on at all about the benghazi thing because you know, we didn't lose a single soldier. >> john: we lost a former navy seal who is now a private contractor. >> caller: i'm sorry. >> john: you're right. you know why john mccain still gets the ink. if he had switched to the democratic party, could have become president in 2000 or even 2004. >> caller: we could have still had sarah palin. >> john: if he switched parties, i don't think it would have happened but you're right. it is sad seeing how john mccain who was once the most universally admired republican senator has kind of become a sad
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caricature of himself. i do think that the john mccain of 2000 would never vote for the john mccain of 2012. >> caller: go to bed earlier or something and -- we always make a joke at my house that we have the early john mccain supper so we can go to bed at 6:00. >> john: hang on a second. i was just talking with dan before the break about how ageism is the one ism that liberals and conservatives are guilty of. you're a retyreee and you're up at 2:30 in the morning and you're making fun of john mccain's age? >> caller: i guess. >> john: let me say one thing in john mccain's defense. he has more energy than most 40 -year-olds i know. he proves that age is nothing but a number every day. i would never make fun of his age. i would make fun of his desperation and his desperate case to stay relevant with the tea party that despise him in his own republican wing.
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>> caller: nation has no appetite to go back to war anywhere. let's resolve the issues we've got. and you know, work peacefully. >> john: i agree jack. you're right. thank you very much. i'm glad -- it is 3:30 where you are. i wish you a great day. it won't be light for another six hours. thank you jack from oregon. we'll be taking your calls and i'll be joined by dan glickman now from the bipartisan policy center. i'm john fuglesang. this is the "bill press show." good morning.
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fast max. use as directed.
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(vo) cenk uygur is many things. >>oh really? >>"if you ever raise taxes on >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true!
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[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] on your radio and on current tv, this is the bill press show. >> welcome. >> john: this is the "bill press show" live on your radio on current it and on your computer as well. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill this morning. what a pleasure to be here with you in our nation's capital. i'm thrilled about this next guest. dan glickman who anyone who follows politics is familiar with. the man has had a remarkable career. a congressman. from the great state of kansas for 20 years. chair of the house intelligence committee under president clinton. u.s. secretary of agriculture under president clinton. director of the institute of politics of harvard university's john f. kennedy school of
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government. executive director of the congressional program. you think a guy like that could rest on his laurels and enjoy his fat resume. he's the senior fell loaf the bipartisan center. right now he's at the summit in new orleans which started yesterday. please welcome former congressman dan glickman. good morning sir. >> good morning, john. every time i hear that resume announcement, i think god i can't keep a job. i'm glad i could talk to you this morning. >> john: i was a vh-1 vijay. it is a pleasure to have you here. i'm fascinated with what you're doing down there with the initiative. it sounds like -- for me, i think i'm one of those guys who always tries to remind people our commonalities outweigh our differences. all too often liberals and conservatives are labels used by the media or government to divide us and keep us fighting each other. i can't help but be inspired by what you all are trying to do at the bipartisan policy center. can you please fill us in a bit?
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>> about 80% of americans are what we call in this vast centers from center right center to center left. only about 20% of are at the edges of either side of the political party. so our folk plays the bipartisan center is an effort to bring people together. it started by the last four senate majority leaders. dole daschle baker and mitchell, two republicans and two democrats to work on those issues where we can try to find common ground whether in healthcare immigration banking, nutrition, you know, you name it. so we're down here in new orleans where we have an annual political summit. it was originally started by james carvel and mary madeline, republican democrat who lived down here. they thought it was a good place to bring folks together after the elections. we do it in the off-year, as well, to talk about why the elections went the way they did. we have a lot of democrat and republican political consultants and who have been in the office. we talk about the future.
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how does this affect the way we govern our country. it is a good, therapeutic way to look in a nonhostile environment as to where we need to go with the country. >> john: the fact it is a nonhostile environment means it won't be covered on most cable news outlets. i'm looking over the roster of speakers. of course you're there as well as james carvel and mary madeline. i guess their merge is a model for this kind of event. you have trent lott and ted strickland, jonathan capehart and another married couple, avalon and hoover. it seems like a really, really inspiring roster of people. so i guess let me ask you why did things turn out the way they did last week on election day? >> you know, first of all, it was close but i think that -- you know, most of the pundits got it right. that is i think the people sense that the economy was getting better while slowly things were kind of turning in the right
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direction. and i think they were willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt under those circumstances. i also think that the discussion about the changing demographics in america that is we're a country that's much different than we were 50 years ago. and i think the democrats did a better job of appealing to that new constituency. but you know, things change in politics. you know, i was a congressman for a long time and all of a sudden i got booted out of office. i thought i could be there forever. people shouldn't take this as necessarily glory days for the democrats. things improved but government is still split. the house is republican. the senate and the president are democrat. state legislatures are split all over the country. what the public is saying to us is okay, elections done now. get on with it. let's start moving to try to do things for our country where we can reach common ground, particularly on the economy but elsewhere and stop killing each other. in our political process. >> john: would you agree with
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the pundits who say the overwhelming majority of democratic wins serves as somewhat of a repudiation of the g.o.p.'s agenda? >> yeah. i think what happened was is the republicans, by in large played the game the way the game has been played for many, many years and the country's changed a bit. and you know the social issues that the right has pushed for years just don't resonate as much as they used to, particularly with younger voters. you have larger numbers of hispanic voters into the system. and you know, it is like -- it is a different country. it is a demographically much more diverse country than it used to be. i think that the democratic party played that better. i also think from an economic perspective, the republicans were -- add the problem they seem to be appealing to a smaller segment. a wealthier segment. their message wasn't very holistic at all.
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i think with that, under normal circumstances, you know, the president of a party that has higher unemployment rate doesn't win. that didn't happen this time because of these other factors. >> john: that's true. i think you're exactly right. i applaud the diplomacy of your language in describing the issues. you know, i gotta say i agree with you on the social issue aspect and it does seem that our republican friends failed to use gay marriage or abortion or reaganomics or illegal immigration as wedge issues. where do you think the g.o.p. can go now to try to get votes and keep their standing if those four big issues aren't going to succeed in dividing us? >> first of all, on the gay rights issue the problem is that -- it's not a problem. we have people all over the country and liberal and democratic and conservative and republican families who have gay members in their families. >> jennifer: -- >> john: exactly.
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so i think that issue is just hopefully that issue is gone. >> john: i agree. on the issue of individual liberty and freedom shouldn't marriage equality be an area where the republicans are leading the fight? >> yeah. i'm reminded that dick cheney was demonized by the democrats legitimately for a lot of reasons. he had a daughter who was gay. on that issue he changed positions. you know. it shows you when something becomes personal -- that's certainly one thing. on the issue of immigration, i think that there is another issue where the republicans could develop a position which is much more positive. much more encouraging in terms of trying to welcome people into our political system and their economic views might resonate with folks who come to this country like they did with my parents or grandparent's generation. >> john: i couldn't agree more. the day after election day sean hannity begins talking about how we need a path to citizenship i call that his pandering.
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i do think anything that brings more inclusivity -- >> the old express, it is the mother of invention. i saw bobby jindal was talking the governor of louisiana the chairman of the republican governor's association about we have to stop blaming people for why the election turned out the way it did. the fact of the matter is the country's changed. the message has to change and you know, what you find in the politics is no one political party has the mantle of leadership forever. it moves back and forth but what you do have to do is you have to appeal to the whole country and the republicans didn't appeal to the whole country. >> john: i think you're right sir. if you were to only get all of your information from cable news or a.m. radio you might think that the democrats and republicans in d.c. are constantly at each other's throats. do you think most americans would be surprised to know how much democrats and republicans just get along really well in this town and in the capitol?
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>> i think they do get along but i think that when it comes to articulating a message they don't get along very well. the messaging is very, very divisive and we both sides of the aisle have to get off of this thing because i think they're turning the american people off and that hurts the long-term resiliency of our political system. that is historically in america what we have done is we have fought our battles but then when we reach agreement or when a decision is made, we move on. and what's happened over the last 15 or 20 years is nobody's moving on. and you know, they continue -- it is like the guy who holds the grudge because of somebody did something to him and he can't get over it so to speak. even though on most issues, when you take all of the bills passed in coverage, most still are fairly bipartisan. the big ones aren't. the big ones of debt, deficit budget immigration energy,
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healthcare, you know. those are the issues that we've got to do our best to try to remember that the public's business is first to be served and then the power of politics is the secondary thing and not -- we've done that in reverse order i think far too much. >> john: how can people learn more about what you're doing with the bipartisan policy center? it sounds inspiring. >> yeah, well people want to know we're www.bipartisanpolicy.org and again, it is an organization of republicans and democrats. lots of former elected officials. former congressman, former senators, former cabinet members, businesspeople, military people. we do a lot in the national security area as well. the goal is to try to advance the substantive agendas of issues and not just to talk about campaigns. so while campaigns are interesting, we've got -- we want to try to the public's work and things that are important to them. we're starting a project called
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the democracy project where we're going to try to look at what things in our society are out there that make it difficult for our government. our country to work on issues. is it the politics -- is it political issues involving the way congress operates, is it civic engagement problems. are we not finding easy to bring people into public service. is it civic education. are people not educated very much about government in their schools, in their communities and we're going to try to look at all of those issues over the next year and a half and find ways to improve the way our country thinks about itself from a governing perspective. >> john: right on. former congressman dan glickman is senior fellow for the bipartisan policy center. sir, thank you for your service. thank you for doing the lord's work. have a great time down there in new orleans. we'll be right back on the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." are you in good hands?
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but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks or jumping into the market he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense from td ameritrade. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel.
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>> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. i'll also be here next week. what a pleasure it is to be here with you. with one of the finest staffs in all of talk radio. both of them. >> really? where are they? >> john: i'm talking about all y'all. >> you're too kind. >> john: i know i am. we're taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. i gotta read a couple of tweets here because you know, the "bill press show," along with "the stephanie miller show," the most intelligent, insightful, sexually attractive listening base. someone wrote a tweet that
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completely completely nailed what john mccain and lindsey graham are up to. which is a conspiracy theory of mine but now it is not because someone agrees with me. first off bill w. tweets what is dan glickman talking about? how is 2.4 million more popular? indeed circumstance the former congressman's credit, bill, he did agree with me it was a repudiation of the republican agenda this year. and bill w. also writes, very sad what senator john mccain has become. he had a real chance to become an elder statesman. instead, went right wing nut job. you have to do what you have to do to defeat those tea party challengers. herb clinker who not only has the coolest name wrote romney's fu47% comment proves the original 47% comment in boca was the only time he didn't lie. that was a pretty despicable thing romney did yesterday. i was feeling for him and it got washed away with his comments.
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we'll cover that later on in the show. here it is. victor agrees with me. exactly uproar about four americans dead in benghazi how about hundreds dying on our streets here, john mccain. republican swine writes john mccain has become a yard ornament loved by neighborhood dogs. not nice. neither is your name. obama, 25,000 secession petitions, looks up confederate states on wikipedia. here is the best tweet of the day. if i can find it. well, more or less, the point is people are wondering why are john mccain and lindsey graham flogging susan rice and making a point out of this whole benghazi thing? what's it about? here's what it's all about my friends. the fact that they want scott brown back in the senate. they don't want susan rice to be secretary of state. you know what they want to be secretary of state? john kerry. and we know that you know, this
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is from anastacia who writes this. these two men are trying to get scott brown back in the senate and trashing susan rice to get kerry as secretary of state. i could not agree more, ans at a sha. the liberals are all afraid if you make john kerry john kerry secretary of state scott brown he's sitting there in his truck in massachusetts, he's got a big fund raising apparatus he's ready to campaign. he has the ground organization ready. and he will just try to snatch up john kerry's seat. you know what? the folks in massachusetts might go ahead and vote for him just to watch him and elizabeth warren have to be colleagues together after their ugly campaign. voters have done much sillier things. i was in california when austrian weightlifter got to be governor. i think that's a really good point. i think you're seeing them doing everything they can to make sure the president doesn't even try to nominate susan rice. that explains the president's anger on an even deeper level. they want john kerry in the
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senate because they want a chance to pick up another seat. they're ten votes behind the democrats in the senate now and i think it's the most logical explanation possible. but we want to know what you think at 1-866-55-press. john is calling us from vancouver, washington. john, are you. >> up at an ungodly hour. >> caller: after they took away the day after the election and put fox sports in place of our progressive -- >> john: can you believe it? i'm appalled. i've broadcast out of the seattle progressive talk station there when i've hosted "the stephanie miller show" and you would think that after a sweeping victory like that, it would be an indication there is an audience for progressive talk but i guess they need to have more sports on. >> i have my old c-band satellite so i'm still safe. what i was going to say is look what they did to general colin powell. they gave him bad intel on wmd put him in front of the u.n.,
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right, and nobody said anything about shooting the messenger then like they're trying to do to susan rice now. >> john: bad intel that leads to thousands of americans dying is okay. bad intel that comes after four americans have died is an impeachable offense. get that straight. >> caller: hypocrites. >> john: i thank you for being an informed american who knows what the hell he's talking about as does the entire listens audience on current tv. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill press. we'll be right back after this. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." ranks of teachers. as dennis told us yesterday, again, sununu is dead wrong. it doesn't mean there are fewer students. it doesn't mean there are fewer classrooms. it doesn't mean there are fewer schools.
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>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an understatement, eliot.
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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang fill in for bill and taking your calls all morning long at 1-866-55-press. dan, your listens are too brilliant. a lotel rv smart point -- a lot of really smart points. also look at john kerry for department of defense secretary so they could get their wish either way. that's what the susan rice bashing is about. arrogant demon says i think duval patrick running for that seat could solve that quandary. i think he will be doing a great job where he's at. steven ford writes we give the puerto rican people citizenship and ship the others to puerto rico. that would still keep them once puerto rico becomes a state. as it is calling us from moreno valley california. i'm amazed at how many west coasters are up. >> caller: hi, john.
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we met at sexy liberal. i tweeted you about the scott brown conspiracy. >> john: that's right. thank you. >> caller: the democratic party needs to find somebody who's qualified to run against anybody that could run against him. because he has already got field offices up and this could be problems if john kerry gets appointed. >> john: very good chance that john kerry will be keeping his senate job but you never know. it would be nice to see him get a promotion but i think the democrats are going to want to hang on to their ten-vote majority now that angus king will be caucusing with the dems and that's a very nice caucus. we'll be taking your calls when we come back after the top of the hour. i'm john fuglesang. you're listening to the "bill press show." we find the best sweetest crab for red lobster that we can find.
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[ male announcer ] hurry in to red lobster's crabfest! the only time of year you can savor 5 succulent crab entrees all under 20 dollars. like a half-pound of tender snow crab paired with savory grilled shrimp, just 12.99. or our hearty crab and roasted garlic seafood bake. [ forsythe ] if i wouldn't put it on my table at home, i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe and i sea food differently.
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning and good morning to you. current tv viewers. thank you for being so smart and so inform and so damn sexy. you're watching the bill show. i'm thrilled to be here this morning. it is a great week. not just because ruth bader ginsburg finally gets to start shopping for the retirement home she's dreamed of. there is a lot of fun things about working here at current. we've had a great time. last week i got to be in san francisco on election night coverage sitting five feet away from vice president gore. at one point, he took a call and said it is will.i.am calling me. i said i just got a call from
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danny bonaduce which did not impress him. one of the great things is being able to work with staff like the current fantastic current staff in california. i'm talking to you l.a. and culver city and i'm talking to you lisa ferguson. it is time for a current news update. >> thank you, john. john and i got to meet in person in the other day. he is real. good morning everyone. talks on the fiscal cliff begin tomorrow and the president is opening that conversation with his plan to raise $1.6 trillion over the next decade. he wants to do that by increasing taxes on corporations and the rich and ceos are actually standing by him on this one. president obama spoke with executives at several top u.s. companies yesterday. xerox's ceo ursula byrnes called the meeting very constructive and positive. as a whole ceos do think the president is listening to their suggestions. up to this point house speaker john boehner is saying he will not accept any increases on tax
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rates. but some top republicans are quietly coming around. it is obvious after the election that republicans do not hold the mandate on taxes. while the g.o.p. still might not agree to a tax rate on those making more than $250,000 a year, if democrats demand a millionaire tax increase, it will be hard for republicans to say no. climate change actvilles are not feeling too optimistic after the president's news conference yesterday. advocates had been hoping the president would push for a carbon tax as a way to help raise revenue during talks on the fiscal cliff. while the president did say he is a official believe err -- firm believer in climate change and will take up the issue in the future. for now it will take a backseat to the economy. this is also an issue both parties avoided during the presidential campaign and even during energy talks, there was no mention of climate change during the debates. more john fuglesang is coming up after the break and we're live in our chat room, join us there at current.com/billpress.
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see you there. (vo) jennifer granholm ... >>for every discouraged voter, there are ten angry ones taking action. trickle down does not work. in romney's world, cars get the elevator and the workers get the shaft. that is a whole bunch of bunk. the powerful may steal an election, but they can't steal democracy.
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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning long. we'll be taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. my first time sitting in the host chair since barack obama and the democratic party sweeping victory last week. however, i do want to give mitt romney congratulations on handily and decisively winning the voting against our own self-interest belt. i'm really thrilled to welcome our next guest. jonathan state anyone who cares about politics knows this man. he has a new piece in the "new york" magazine i can't recommend highly enough on -- is
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it "full court press" time? i thought jonathan was waiting. >> he is but he can wait. >> john: i'm so sorry. jonathan is in the wings. we'll talk about his piece. it is dynamite in the "new york" magazine. you can pull it up right now to familiarize yourself because it is the best post-mortem i have read on this entire campaign. i forgot. sorry, i'm new here. i only fill in once a month or so. it is time for the institution that is the "full court press." >> this is the "full court press". >> jonathan is a political mastermind but you gotta get the real news from me first. >> john: i agree. give me some real news. >> "saturday night live" star jason sudeikis gave an exit interview with his role playing mitt romney in the nbc comedy show during the presidential campaign. he thinks most people got the wrong impression of the republican contender saying he's actually more human than people gave him credit for. he said he tried to portray the human side in last weekend's skit where he, as romney, was
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chugging milk after losing the election saying it was a thoughtful way to say f off. >> john: okay. very thoughtful. jason is very funny. he and i share the same manager. i guess it was thoughtful the way he humiliated mitt romney. i agree with him. i do think that mitt romney is a lot more human a guy. if the voters didn't have a problem with him, with the inhumanity of his campaign. >> and the romney bot. >> members of congress are meeting new faces in washington this week. some in weird misses. the hill reports senator claire mccaskill met new incoming senators elizabeth warren of massachusetts and deb fischer of nebraska for the first time in the lady's room. the missouri democrat tweeted they're going to have to build a bigger bathroom with all of the new women in the senate. >> john: that's very inspiring. i will already start printing up my lills beth warren 2016 bumper stickers. >> a rough start for guy fee fieri's
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new restaurant. might be the most scathing restaurant review written up in "the new york times" this week. every single sentence in the review is in the form of a question. one of the best, hey, did you try that blue drink the one that glows like nuclear waste the watermelon margarita. any idea why it tastes like a radiator fluid and formaldehyde. the piece went viral across the internet. >> john: if you haven't read it yet, if you've been horrified by guy fieri on tv, it is the most brilliant hilarious and really expertly written -- have a two-page review that consists of entirely rhetorical questions. next to jonathan, second best written thing i've read. it is brilliant. i wanted to read the whole thing on the air today. is that it? >> that's it. >> john: we're "full court pressed" out. i'm glad you mentioned your times review of guy fieri. it is so scathing they actually gave it a poor rating. i've never read a poor.
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>> of the restaurant rating. >> john: they gave it a poor. they said the staff knows -- the very nice staff knows that they're not working in a real restaurant. but the entire review is all questions. the review is so scathing, i'm going to eat there now. i have to see for myself. jonathan is one of our finest political writers. his piece is entitled we just had a class war. one side won and i'm really thrilled to welcome into the "bill press show" because this piece just is the finest post-mortem i have read on what we experienced for the last year and a half. jonathan chait welcome. >> you're way too kind. >> john: my mom's annex nun and my dad was a franciscan brother. i've always been a fan but i love the piece. i was saying earlier in the show, i spent the evening doing live coverage with vice president gore and governor granholm and governor spitzer
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for current. in san francisco. so it wasn't as late for us as it was for the east coast but one thing most of the democrats -- i was in the room with felt was that president obama's speech was -- not his finest moment. that it was rather vague and unspecific and your piece takes the exact opposite tone. you write that it was an argument that was at its core harsher than the one he had regularly delivered during the long campaign. >> yeah, that's right. i think people were kind of too emotionally exhausted to really focus on what he was saying in that speech. >> john: exhausted thanks to romney making us wait all night. >> it sounded kind of nice and pleasant and he had the line about the red states and the blue states so it sort of put people in that frame of mind. why don't we all get along. what he did was summarize the theme that had dominated the campaign. the harshest thing i think he did was to try to summarize his
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definition of the american idea in a way that essentially excluded leadership of the republican party. what he said america's about is essentially giving everyone a chance. we're all in it together. you know, having responsibility for each other. basically, not what the republicans believe at all. in a way he put a capstone on what i argue was the whole theme of the campaign. that the whole campaign was about this argument about class mutual responsibility, what are the prerogatives of wealth and what responsibilities do we have to other people who are unfortunate. >> john: i agree. i like to say that in america if you fight for the bottom 978% that's -- bottom 98% that's class warfare. the top 2% is pro growth. your piece outlines how barack obama that gave that acceptance
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speech that victory speech, was the liberal that a lot of liberals thought they voted for in 2008. you write how he said despite all of our differences most of us share certain hopes for america's future. can you unpack his use of the word "most" for us, jonathan? >> yeah. he didn't say -- most is an interesting word because it is not the same as all. all is the normal word you would use in a situation like that. but most doesn't mean all. it could mean as little as 51% of us. now i think he needs more than 51% but i think what he means is most americans share this idea but essentially his leaders -- the leaders of the republican party don't. when he was -- citing examples of americans who embodied this creed, he cited a business owner who, in tough times wouldn't lay people off. he cut his own salary instead of
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laying people off. joan not papa john's i'm guessing. >> and not bain capital either. that's not the message of bain capital. so he -- he really kind of had some very sharp contrasts in that speech. and i think -- you know, he was trying to do it. in order to extend the meaning of his victory and to propel himself into the budget fight negotiations that he knew were going to occupy the first -- you know two three, four months of the post-election period. >> john: i couldn't agree more. you write the speech was entirely about a single idea. the campaign from beginning to end was an extended argument about economic class and you do something very interesting. you talk about the big speech that the president delivered last december in kansas where teddy roosevelt once spoke about government's place in mitigating, as you put it, income and equality.
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i almost had forgotten about that speech. that was the speech i thought where the president kicked off his campaign. you link that speech directly to his victory speech. >> yeah. i think -- i actually would go back further to the budget negotiations of last summer of 2011. because the campaign was -- i would argue an extension of those negotiations. obama went to republicans tried to get them to make a deal. they wouldn't make the deal because they wouldn't agree that wealthy people have to pay higher taxes. he essentially brought the public in to try to sell them on the deal that the republicans would make or to make republicans bear the political cost of defending the position which is actually highly unpopular. so that's -- you know, it was almost weird how much obama talked about raising taxes on the rich. he talked about it far more than any democrat ever has. >> john: let me ask you. one of the things i found very strange, the president never
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once, that i can remember brought up the fact that the american people voted to raise taxes on the wealthy in 2008 when they elected him. he ran on that back against john mccain, the american people voted for it. and while it is easy to understand how he would have this grand bargain of giving up on the bush tax cuts to keep unemployment benefits alive in 2010, why did he never once utilize the capital of having won an election that was based on this in the first place back in '08? >> he should have. the truth is the biggest debacle i would say of the entire obama first term was the failure of congressional democrats to extend the middle class tax cuts when they didn't have the votes to do it. they just kind of -- they were starting to get nervous. they were disorganized. they had the wealthy constituents blaming them. they did nothing. they did nothing. they dropped the ball. they let republicans basically control the debate when republicans took control of the congress. >> john: that's what democrats do consistently.
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i was saying all along back in 2010, this is not obama's tax increase. those tax cuts were designed to expire in 2010 after they had eaten up the clinton surplus. it was eaten. we've been running on fumes ever since. >> they didn't want it to expire. they needed it to expire in order to comply with budget rules that didn't allow you to increase the deficit past the ten-year window but still yeah, i mean you know, the democrats and congress screwed up a lot of things. it is odd that -- i think liberals have spent the last four years complaining about obama pretty frequently when the democrats in congress are the ones who have committed the vastly larger mistakes. >> john: excellent point. we're talking with "new york" magazine columnist jonathan chait. i want to get to all of the points because the piece is so great. you write very sharply about paul ryan's role in this campaign and how that role was shifted or even erased halfway through.
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>> yeah. i thought that was -- that was symbolic of the state of the big debate and what both campaigns knew americans to believe about it. republicans were very, very excited to have a large philosophical debate and the appointment of paul ryan as vice presidential candidate when it was kind of a moment when they really seemed to think that they were going to get it. >> john: i thought so. >> paul ryan spent a week where he would talk about this debate. going to have the debate. when does the debate start? let's do it. it was good-bye paul ryan. >> john: why was that, jonathan? they didn't get the bounce in the polls because of his appointment or because of the stench comments? >> i think it was the fact that they never wanted to have the debate. >> john: really. >> they knew the debate was bad for them. i think they needed paul ryan on board. romney liked paul ryan but the
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campaign -- the only campaign that gave them a chance to win was blaming obama for everything that happened and being as vague as possible about the alternative, right. saying the economy is bad people are arguing in washington, we'll make it better. they didn't have any support for their specific alternatives. they didn't want to make it a contest or specific vision so they needed ryan on board in a way. but they didn't want people examining their alternative. >> john: i think you're right. what do you think is next for the g.o.p. and what do you think we can expect in the weeks to come with the fiscal cliff struggle? >> this is also something i've written about quite a bit. i don't expect a lot of cooperation between the parties in the second term except immigration reform. on the fiscal issue it is different. the republicans just have to make a deal with obama because the absent of the deal, they get way, way worse than nothing. they opposed almost everything obama got because the alternative to making a deal with obama was nothing.
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they preferred nothing to whatever obama wanted. here nothing. it was very bad for them. total exploration of all of the bush tax cuts in very large defense cuts. so you know, they're going to get shaken loose. i don't know it is going to happen in december or january or even after january but that's going to happen. >> john: i hope the president can remind the american people of who they voted for twice. jonathan chait's excellent piece. buy a copy and keep print alive. follow him on twitter at jonathan chait. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> john: we'll be back with more on the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. >> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv.
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> john: nice to hear some vintage beck this morning. >> how about that. >> john: that's lovely. what a great song that is. beck make more albums. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill press all morning on your radio on your computer and on your current tv. thank you so much for calling in at 1-866-55-press. or just for listening. so many great comments from this brilliant audience. i gotta share a couple with you if i can. we had ripa right about susan rice, you can't have a secretary of state begging for free stuff. that's too urban. we had race baiting comments from both romney and ryan
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yesterday. that were both pretty disgusting. we'll be getting to those very, very soon. in the meantime, oh, luke russert. we're pulling for you. we really, really are but then you go and you do something like this when nancy pelosi is on stage with all of these great women. like i mentioned earlier ageism is the one ism that liberals and conservatives are guilty of. luke, this is what you did. let's play it. >> i guess -- oh, you've always asked that question except to mitch mcconnell. >> he missed the question. joan what happened there was luke russert got to ask a question during speaker -- former speaker pelosi's press conference yesterday with all of the democratic-elected officials on stage. and he asked about her age and about the fact that she's
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hanging on to the leadership position and isn't that depriving someone younger of getting it. and former speaker pelosi astutely pointed out that he would never ask that question of mitch mcconnell and then she said this. >> let's, for a moment, honor it as a legitimate question. although it is quite offensive but you don't realize that, i guess. the fact is -- the fact is that everything that i have done in my almost -- i guess decade now of leadership is to elect younger and newer people to the congress. >> john: that's a smackdown luke russert. i mean that's just -- come on. you don't! when have you ever heard someone bring up age -- even john mccain. no one ever asked john mccain about his age when he was running for president. they made fun of him all the time but no one said john mccain, why don't you let a younger person run for president. >> he basically said, madam leader aren't you too old to be doing this? >> it is so rude.
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>> said it. >> that's sort of like if megan mccain were to drill luke russert about nepotism, it is depressing. he got smacked down. i was mad at luke russert until i saw how much nbc personalities were mocking him. >> did they go after him? >> john: they went after him. going to be a lonely time this week. >> john: we'll be taking more of your calls at 1-866-55-press. we have barely made fun of petraeus yet. we'll be joined by zeke miller of "buzzfeed." don't go away.
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politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on in politics today. >>at the only on-line forum with a direct line to bill press. >>it's something i've been waiting for a long time. >>join the debate now.
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>> announcer: this is the furl court press. -- this is the "full court press." live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: i'm john fuglesang filling in for the great man on your radio on your current tv and on your computer even. and all i can say out there to all of you atheists is when the final vote have been tallied from florida, mitt romney finished the campaign with 47%. screw you atheist. there is a god and he has a great sense of humor. i'm thrilled about our next guest. long time fan. i've read you for awhile. it is great to be a first-time suck up. zeke miller is in studio with us from "buzzfeed." thank you for joining us this morning. >> great to be here with you. thank you so much for having me.
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>> john: i know it is a slow "newsweek" so we'll try to fake our way through this. when zeke walked into the room, where do we start? between petraeus soap opera which is now like turned into the jersey shore for rich people. everyone hooking up left and right and being kind of skeevy. let's begin with ambassador rice. i found yesterday to really be fascinating on a dramatic level. were you surprised that that's being used against the president and do you think that this is really about trying to get scott brown back into the senate by getting john kerry and not susan rice in the state department? >> scott brown isn't going to do it after last tuesday. >> john: you don't think? >> they got a few votes than scott brown. they lost quite badly among the republicans. but sort of -- it is surprising. we're in a situation where everything is partisan. maybe we thought there would be a honeymoon after the president's re-election.
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therethere would be an opportunity. >> john: like bill clinton's second term. >> the opportunity for some compromise. the president, governor romney struck a tone of bipartisanship. but there wasn't a -- really within a week, that's gone. you had senator john mccain yesterday basically saying he has no trust in the president. no credibility of the administration's investigation. that really is a -- you know, a sign that we're back to the politics as usual of -- where politics is in washington now. every issue becomes politicized hyperpartisan. >> john: you know, zeke, i'm not a democrat. and i'm pulling my hair out over the fact that these democrats are not pushing back on the benghazi issue at all. i've never seen a terrorist attack exploited for political gain -- well, since they used 9-11 to go into iraq -- seeing how this attack that killed four americans has been exploited to try to tear down a president. to smear this president.
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after in 2001, we were told united we stand. get behind the commander in chief. now this tragic attack that left four americans dead is being used to smear pretty much anyone the republicans don't like. in the case of ambassador rice, i thought the president was quite astute in pointing out she was given this briefing by the c.i.a. that's it. she was saying what they knew. is getting bad intel only acceptable to republicans if this leads to war in iraq that kills thousands of americans? >> the thing is there's probably nobody more upset about this situation than susan rice. she's the one -- she's a very talented diplomat. skilled foreign policy. she's been doing this for awhile. very well respected in the industry. suddenly she gets on tv, the administration -- she has a trusted face. she's given this from c.i.a. so the white house has said, what the c.i.a. has said and you know, it points to the video. that's what they had at the
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time. it is proven to be mostly false. there is -- clear bit of planning going on before that. but you know, so there is probably more upset than susan rice herself. and you know, you have the story of this -- she can't be nominated. for secretary of state or if you did, we would filibuster it but not using the word filibuster because that would be obstructionist. everything in our power. not going to use the magic word to actually stop it. >> john: they don't have to. they're very good at it and democrats let them. number one with the video. our embassy was attacked over that video. our embassy in cairo. and the american flag was torn down a few hours before the benghazi consulate attack. i have not heard one high-ranking democratic official or administration official come out and bring that up. that the c.i.a.'s getting their facts wrong and again, they should be blaming petraeus more than they should be blaming the president or ambassador rice but i haven't heard one single
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democrat deploy that fact that we have been attacked earlier that day and it is entirely reasonable to think about -- to consider that maybe that could have been a factor. we've been dealing with it all day long. >> we've heard it a little bit from the administration but it hasn't been the same level of force. nobody is willing to put their name behind that. on the record because there are four people dead. for some reason. and there was an intel failure here. they didn't know about it. so nobody really wants to come down on c.i.a. because of the past decade of coming down on c.i.a. never works out very well. >> john: george tenet got a medal. what are you talking about? he got a medal for helping bring bad intel that led to a war. >> then you have petraeus, also. before friday, very respected. nobody -- republicans weren't going to go after david petraeus go after the c.i.a. through the president.
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the buck stops the president. the president did you know, acknowledge it does stop. he has full responsibility for it. and so there is -- nobody is saying that -- it was perfect. certainly not the administration. they're acknowledging the confusion which they might not have had. the president was making that distinction yesterday but right now, there isn't enough evidence to say that susan rice was willfully misleading people the way some folks in the senate are saying. >> john: it is crazy. if she had mentioned a mushroom cloud, i guess that would have been acceptable because the last ambassador could do that. let me ask you about another question. a side note to this. now suddenly we're seeing benghazi and petraeus and the girlfriend get intertwined with john kerry and secretary of state and department of defense. suddenly everything is linked together. there has been a factor, underreported wrinkle in this campaign i would like to ask your opinion on. i'm not sure if you want to talk about it.
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it is something that has -- united both fox news and information clearinghouses far to the right and left as you can get. which is david petraeus' paramour, miss broadwell saying in a speech that's been heavily televised -- this is -- i think what helped bring the general down as c.i.a. director is that she seems to have intel that there was a prison the premises in benghazi or nearby and that that was one of the factors explaining the 9-11 attack, that they were trying to get the release of these prisoners and break out of prison. when i first heard this, i was pretty shocked because if there was a prison that the c.i.a. had in libya we're talking about a bush and cheney era black sight that the obama administration would be protecting. this, to me, seems like it is potentially a huge story but i notice the mainstream media seems loath to cover it. do you have any thoughts on this? it is still in the rumor phase. the fact is it is the biographer
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that wound up being petraeus' paramour saying it makes it crazy on 25 different levels. >> this entire story. you need like eight different flowcharts or web charts to explain it. >> john: you can't make a movie. it has an mini series for 13 hours. >> it is way too complicated. it is starting to incorporate benghazi and the foreign policy issues. particularly on -- right now in some ways, it is a all circumstantial. do we trust paula broadwell? we trust what she was saying because she was sleeping with david petraeus or is that totally irrelevant? we don't know yet. >> john: that's how the fbi got gotti. do you think that if that were the case, if that attack was motivated because there was a secret c.i.a. black sight prison somewhere in the consulate this is what the c.i.a.'s director's girlfriend was saying in a speech. when fox news and information
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clearing house are agreeing on something, i'm disturbed in general. or inspired. but if that's the case, is that a scandal so huge that the media won't even touch it? >> i think the media will touch it. the media is digging on it. i know certainly our michael hastings is look at it. i'm sure national security report from every news outlet is digging because that would be the finish in some ways, the story of the century. you're tapping into the major pop culture moment and the return to -- and sort of a massive national security breakthrough. i mean everybody wants that story if they can get it. the question is could they get it. we're talking about that that's going to be very classified information if it is true. it is going to be very hard to prove. so we'll see. going forward. right now we're in that drip, drip, drip is good for tv. everybody's ratings i'm sure are through the roof on this. how can you look away? the story, it is like watching a train wreck. in slow motion, really.
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every day, it is like -- another domino falls. >> john: or a train wreck in fast motion on 5 hour energy which is killing people according to the "new york times." zeke can you hang around? >> yes. >> john: we're taking your calls when we come back right after this. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.
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the golden years as the conservatives call them, we had the highest tax rates, and the highest amount of growth, and the highest amount of jobs. those are facts. >>"if you ever raise taxes on the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for the "bill press show" which is the only show on radio where you will hear the fbi's takedown of general petraeus and the
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c.i.a. compared to the fbi's takedown of john gotti. that's how it is in my head and on the airwaves. i'm joined by brilliant "buzzfeed" reporter zeke miller. thank you so much for coming in at this ungodly hour. >> this is late for me. >> john: is it really? you guys in d.c., when do you all get up? 4:00 a.m.? what's life like for you guys? >> 10 minutes before mike allen. [ laughter ] >> john: it is always amazing to me as a hick from new york to come down here and really see what the culture is like. this is the city that never sleeps it seems. >> yeah. it's a work hard, play hard kind of place. >> john: what was the mood like amongst you and your friends at "buzzfeed." are you allowed to enjoy the horse race being over? >> i like the horse race. you know this is what i do. i'm moving over to the white house -- i was a political guy. covered the race for a year. on the trail with everybody. it is hard to -- you know, to
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put that behind you because it is so much fun. it becomes a lifestyle. it is good that it's over. it is a different chapter of moo i life now but it really does become an all-encompassing thing. it is hard to say good-bye to. >> john: i think it is much the same way for comedians zeke. i've got two hours of mitt romney material that i have to bid farewell to. it is heartbreaking. so painful. it is like the hurricane. it washed away two years of work. i want to ask you about something we talked about during the break which is about what the election of 2016 is already looking like. and i know it may seem kind of grotesque to bring it up this early but it seems like to me, we've already got two separate factions of the g.o.p. beginning to jockey for position. on the one hand, you've got the write wing republicans. we love them. you've got -- you've got santorum, of course. he's going to run. god bless. comedians love him.
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rand paul. tea party people saying romney was too moderate. now you have this wing of the g.o.p. saying hey we're the electable moderates. i think jeb bush is going to lead the race. i think christie joined that club and bobby jindal has joined it as well. >> exactly. yesterday governor romney held a call to some of his top donors saying the reason why he lost or at least one of the reasons why he lost is because the president gave gifts to different minorities -- >> john: can we play that, dan? is that handy, that clip. governor romney talking to his base about the race and why he thinks he lost. >> romney: president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give an extraordinary financial gifts from the government and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. and that strategy worked. >> john: okay, extraordinary financial gifts like tax cuts to the billion avers aren't -- like tax cuts to billionaires aren't.
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he is calling obamacarefree stuff. am i wrong about anything i said? >> it is obamacare and it is also the dream act. what the president signed. it is also going to be -- coming out in support of gay marriage. all of those things. >> john: supports the american dream itself. free stuff. it has to come from somewhere. it is coming from tax revenues offen from the rich. that's the republican ideology. then you had bobby jindal 12 hours, 13 hours after the fact saying something along the lines of -- twice actually in the republican government association press conference in las vegas rejecting the gifts saying that's not why we lost. these are the people we need to bring into the republican fold. we need to make conservatism
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open to these people. they should be -- natural conservatives line. sort of embracing that. it is big tent conservatives. they want to make the republican party bigger, not smaller. >> john: i found it fascinating. does bobby jindal still have a lot of weight in the g.o.p. after that lack luster speech he gave and then after the photographs of him holding giant stimulus checks. does his opinion have the weight? >> i think it does. obviously it was a very bad set-up speech in comparisons to page from 30 rock, will never go away. he's a very smart guy. very well-respected. you're not going to see national review criticizing him the same way they were criticizing mitt romney for being too moderate. >> john: even after bobby jindal calls the g.o.p. stupid, you won't see him criticized? >> no. because it's like -- i'm from new york. i can criticize new york.
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somebody from boston wants to come down to my city, they're going to have a problem. so the feels was mitt romney was never one of them. bobby jindal has always been. he was elected -- he was really embraced by the tea party ways. and you know, so he's -- he's really -- appeals to the entire electorate at this point just in terms of where he's come from. the positions he's held. he's not big on state-based exchanges. he's already rejected those. scott walker is probably going to come out against them on friday. >> john: i think you're right. >> john casey is make his own decision tomorrow as well. he's very well respected. going to be very hard for the conservative movement to say he's far too moderate. >> john: zeke miller, it is a pleasure to have you here. we love you in new york, boston. you're always welcome. a few yankee fans may not like you but we mets fans treasure
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our boston fans. follow you at zeke j miller on the "buzzfeed." thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> john: we'll be right back after this. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."
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>>i jump out of my skin at people when i'm upset. they're doing this this corruption based on corruption based on corruption. >>that's an
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understatement, eliot. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey, how about it. president obama, busy schedule today. doing no fewer than six >> john: i don't like this story in today's "new york times" in business day. caffeinated drink cited in reports of 13 deaths. federal officials have received reports of 13 deaths over the last four years that cited the possible involvement of 5-hour
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energy. they highly caffeinated energy shot according to the fda records. of course, i do the sexy liberal comedy tour with stephanie miller. >> sure. >> john: it is fab lavements we play all around the country and had a number one album. >> is it sponsored by 5-hour energy? >> john: it is not. however our tour booker is my former theatre agent a guy named roland. stephanie miller fans will know about this lovely gentleman. and he got me hooked on 5-hour energy. >> oh you're a 5-hour energetic. >> john: i'm ordinarily a healthy person but i find coffee makes me mean and i go instant tea party when i have coffee. >> okay. >> john: i found that 5-hour energy, i have no crash unlike coffee, i'm lovely and charming and i get a little boost but i'm not buzzy or grinding my jaw like an ecstasy fiend. listen to this. monster beverage closed wednesday at 4474 and fast
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growing energy drink industry is facing scrutiny. the company does not disclose the amount of caffeine in each bottle but a recent article published by "consumer reports" placed that level at about 215 mill am grass an 8 ounce cup of coffee can contain from 100 to 115 milligrams of caffeine. so that little shot has up to twice as much caffeine. >> that's why i don't take it. >> john: now i have to revisit my whole life and consider going back to exercise as a means of getting energy. >> i have never taken a 5-hour energy. i think i'm going to have a heart attack. >> john: for me, it is completely mild. and now i can never take it ever again because i'm a liberal and i believe everything in "the new york times." we'll be taking your calls and talking to josh wax of share our strength. and then muslim comedian dino joins us in the next hour. this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." sweetest crab for red lobster that we can find. [ male announcer ] hurry in to
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> john: this is the "bill press show" coming to you live on current tv. i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill all morning. thank you so much for joining us. coming up in the next hour muslim comedian dean joins us. but first i have to say that i was in new york for the storm. i hope we talked about this in the next hour. i had a lot of damage. i want to give thanks to fox news because during the hurricane, sean hannity booked both frank lunds and ann coulter on the same show in an attempt valiantly to repel the storm by force of sheer evil. it didn't work but i give them a lot of credit. after i finish drying out my
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belongings, i went over to los angeles to do work earlier this week. while at the "the young turks" studio, i had the exquisite privilege of meeting lisa ferguson who is every bit as brilliant a person as she is on tv. we go to her now for a current news update. take it, lisa. >> thank you john. same goes to you. the president's new healthcare reform is still facing hurdings as it goes into effect over the next year. with obama safely in the white house for another term, house republicans say they will no longer try to repeal the affordable care act. but they are putting some intense scrutiny on how those changes are taking place. the house ways and means committee is now issuing a subpoena for health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. they're demanding to know how the agency is using taxpayer money to pay for p.r. and advertising campaigns. health and human services has signed at least two contracts. one of those worth $20 million. the house ways committee says americans deserve to know where
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their money is going. meanwhile, employer health insurance premiums just saw their lowest increase in the last 15 years. at the beginning of the decade, premiums were going up by 10% to 15% but this year, the increase was just 4%. now the bad news, this does not necessarily mean lower cost for you. employers know when the healthcare reform goes into full effect in 2014, they will have to cover more people. so they're controlling those costs by shifting them on to you. many employers are now offering plans to charge much lower premiums but that means that they're employers end up paying more out-of-pocket costs and higher deductibles. and in ohio, the house committee wants to strip planned parenthood of nearly $2 million. that bill passed the state house yesterday and it will likely advance to a floor vote today. more john fuglesang is coming up after the break. stay with us.
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>>and now to my point. that is a whole bunch of bunk! the powerful my steal an election but they cannot steal democracy.
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang happy to be here filling in for bill. i'll be here most of next week as well and we welcome you to come -- coming to you live from our nation's capital. i'm very happy to welcome josh wachs here. he's a chief strategy officer for share our strength, a national nonprofit fiepped fighting to end childhood hunger in america. before we get to our interview and the important topics you're here to discuss josh, i want to first off thank everyone who helped elect michele bachmann and let her keep her job in d.c. as a comedian, it was a really devastating week for us last
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week. election night was a horrible blow to most comedians and thanks to michele bachmann, comedy will be kept alive in the political realm. also because she's re-elected, shake go back to trying to catch the dalmatians. before we begin, it is time for the most dignified thing we can do here and that's the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "full court press." >> i don't know about dignified. >> john: dan will be reading the stories that americans care about. then we'll get to childhood hunger of course. >> john, "people" magazine named its sexiest man of the year yesterday. it was not you. it was not anyone here. channing tatum the 21 jump street actor 32 years old and his wife expecting their first child. he takes the crown from bradley cooper. the actor had it last year. they call him a triple threat since he's more than a body. he's got heart. a great wife. he's great to his wife and he's going to be a father. >> john: i call people's sexiest man alive people's most persuasive publicist in hollywood award.
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>> lots of housekeeping on capitol hill yesterday including naming members of congress to leadership positions. one republican tried to mix things up. texas representative louie gohmert nominated newt gingrich to be speaker of the house. it is not a joke. you do not have to be a current member of congress to be nominated as speaker. >> john: you said the words louie gohmert and not a joke which i take issue with. he really did? >> i thought that was a gag. >> he put the nomination on the floor. no one seconded it. so it didn't go anywhere. he nominated newt gingrich. >> john: almost like newt gingrich isn't that popular. i'm shocked by this. >> in sports, baseball handing out its top pitching awards of the year. the national league, new york mets star, first new york mets to win the cy young award. >> john: since dwight gooden back in the '80s. >> first knuckleballer. >> john: 34-year-old guy who bounced around. he used his time kicking around in baseball to perfect his very
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unique knuble ball pitch and -- knuckleball pitch. work on your skills. such an inspiring sports story. in the american league, tampa bay rays pitcher price take home the trophy by one vote. the closest outcome in history barely beating justin verlander. >> john: i'm a mets fan so we don't care about the american league. thank you so much, dan. >> you got it. >> john: once again i'm thrilled to welcome you josh. >> great to be here. >> john: josh wachs the chief strategy officer for share our strength. current is partnering with y'all in this initiative. and this is for the no kid hungry campaign. can you please tell us a little bit about what this is about because i think that -- what you're doing combines everything that progressives care about between political engagement, activism, social justice and of course, our nation's future. >> thanks, john. we're thrilled to be here and very grateful to current for
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this opportunity to bring really much-needed attention to this issue. you know, the numbers are staggering. childhood hunger in this country is a true epidemic. one in five kids struggle with hunger. 16 million kids. it is almost hard to imagine. and yet we've got a country where we're plentiful in terms of food. the problem isn't that food doesn't exist in this country. it exists in abundance. really our campaign is about connecting kids who are struggling with hunger with the food resources that already exist. number one. and number two it's really about helping teach kids and families who have limited income who are at risk of hunger, how to shop for, cook and prepare healthy, nutritious meals on a limited budget. how do they make the dollars go farther. >> john: those are two huge, huge issues facing our society today. woody guthrie who said every year we waste enough to feed the ones who starve. when you consider the abundance of food we have, why in the
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greatest country in the world do we have issues like childhood hunger? >> i think there is a breakdown on delivery system essentially. so you've got the food. you've got kids. but the mechanisms aren't strong enough to connect it. so we've got 60 million kids at risk of hunger and yet less than half of kids in this country who are eligible to get a free nutritious school breakfast to start their day are actually getting it. >> john: why is that? >> it is a number of reasons. when you get down to the granular basis, it is everything from the fact that there's stigma that's attached in some cases with school breakfast. only quote-unquote the poor kids to go the cafeteria for breakfast while everybody goes for lunch. there are transportation issues. how do kids and families get to school early enough for breakfast. there are red tape issues as well. so we work to knock down those barriers to access in innovative ways to be able to make sure kids are starting their day with the nutritious breakfast they
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need because we know that breakfast is so important to kids' learning. in fact, we just finished a study here in maryland that showed that kids who get breakfast in school in high-speed areas are scoring 17% higher on standardized tests so this is really -- and hunger is really very much an education issue in this country. and about -- you know, our kids ultimately investing our kids, you know, in terms of making sure that they're fed well is going to ultimately have long-term educational and society outcomes that we need to have productive citizens. >> john: are we ever shocked by how many americans believe there are hungry people in this country? >> it is a huge issue for us. i grew up as a child in hunger for me was really my vision was international hunger. i grew up watching sally struthers infomercials with feed the children where kids with distended stomachs and flies standing in line for porridge. those continue to be huge issues for this world. but hunger in america has very
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much been an invisible issue. and it is not as visible to the naked eye. yet it exists in our classrooms and our backyards and our schoolyards. in fact, we just released an annual teacher's report of 750 teachers around the country k-8 teachers. over 60% said they had kids coming to their classes who were hungry because they didn't have enough to eat. >> john: to me this speaks to the essence of what patriotism is supposed to be about. you know. and i mean i think that progressives tend to be the folks who would rather have their tax dollars help people here than blow them up over there. but is it just there is such a stigma of being poor? is that the biggest hurdle you face? is it indifference? or is it just on an institutional level there's just no way to get the food we have to people who need it. >> what we've found is essentially to solve this problem, there has to be public private partnerships. what we do and have found most effective is to work on a state
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level, often times with governors taking the lead and bipartisan group of governors from governor o'malley, first governor to say he wanted to end childhood hunger here nearby in maryland mcdonald, chairman of the republican governor's association who launched a similar effort in virginia. i think that there's a sense that this is a bipartisan issue investing in our kids. there's nothing partisan about it. we've got to bring together state and federal agencies and our no kid hungry network with private citizens who have to become active who have to advocate for this cause who can help on a local basis with corporations who haves aet to bring to the table along with governors to actually solve this problem. >> john: that's my question then josh. when you look at a society where almost every state has a budget crisis at the moment and you talk about corporations and theú private sector, how can one ever hope to get the private sector to help with childhood hunger until there is a way to profit of off of it? >> i think we've got to make the argument that this is about -- this is about helping businesses
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be productive at the end of the day. >> john: how do you make that argument? >> you talk about childhood hung every as a health issue. that kids who are hungry get sick more often. take longer to recover from illnesses. are hospitalized more often. the center for american progress recently released a study saying that hunger costs this country $167 billion a year. >> john: absolutely. gnaw lost economic productivity and healthcare costs. so that's number one. you know if you give kids breakfast, if you educate families on good nutrition ultimately, there will be significant savings to healthcare to our economy, that means savings in terms of medicare and medicaid and ultimately savings in terms of the amount of money that government has to spend on this. >> john: if i'm a ceo and i'm responsible for my shareholders first and foremost, where i do get off appropriating funds to help kids. yeah, i care but that's not my job as a businessman. is that one of the men tammities
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you're up against? >> i've got to have a work force that is educated and productive. and so as we know, kids who graduate from high school are half as likely to end up in poverty. >> john: you're trying to -- this is a look at the big picture. >> yes. to see this as an economic competitiveness issue. one of our big champions todd staples, the agricultural commissioner in texas a republican, makes this argument very strenuously. this is about -- investing in our kids and hunger and nutrition is about an economic competitiveness issue. >> john: absolutely. >> for our country to be competitive, to have workers who are educated and skilled they've got to be fed and get good nutrition. if you actually look back, the school lunch program started in 1946 under president truman. why did it start? it started because the military actually came to the president and said we're not getting enough qualified recruits because our kids aren't getting the nutrition they need. so that's how school lunch
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started. >> john: wow. >> because in many ways, this issue is not only an economic competitiveness issue but it is a national security issue. >> john: another example of the military leading the fight for social justice. the military is one of the leading advocates of affirmative action in america today. and the courthouse, how inspiring to know of their role in school lunches. we want to know what your experience is. josh, stick around for one more segment. >> sure. >> john: we'll be taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. josh wachs of no kid hungry, fighting childhood hunger in america. we'll be right back after this. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv.
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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: joe cirincione is our >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang filling in for bill today and next week on monday through wednesday. thank you for starting your day with us. we're talking with josh wachs a chief strategy officer for no kid hungry and we're talking about an issue that i don't hear the media talking about. i don't hear politicians talking. hunger in america. you know, because they don't talk about it. it makes the stigma worse and it makes more americans in a state of disbelief that it even exists. >> i couldn't agree with you more. we've got to work to build essentially a grassroots movement. of folks who are speaking out and saying this is an issue that's important to address. we ask folks to go to our web site nokidhungry.org and take
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the pledge. i'm going to do whatever i can in my community to help end childhood hunger and to raise the awareness of this issue. it is so important for our political leaders to understand this. as which move forward. as a country and tackle with really difficult issues like our budget and deficit. >> john: how did you feel this campaign season hearing the word food stamps used as an epithet? >> it is concerning. statistics show that food stamps are a crucial program that helps keep families out of poverty. in fact, just yesterday the census bureau released new statistics about americans in poverty that showed that food stamps help keep 2.1 million kids out of poverty. the truth about food stamps is that the average family is on food stamps for only nine months. it is really a temporary -- while folks who are struggling, a temporary aid. the average income of food stamp
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recipients is $22,000 $24,000 in income. half of food stamps, half food stamp participants are kids. so -- in fact, so many people have relied on food stamps at one point or another during their life. to be able to get that help when they need it. >> john: you're doing a campaign about this. >> we are. we've taken -- filmed a psa with highly-visible americans who were once on food stamps. folks like the celebrity chef sandra lee who has been a huge supporter and spokesperson for the no kid hungry campaign. used to be on food stamps and talks about how now she's a celebrity chef. but as a kid she relied on food stamps as an important means to be able to get fed healthy food she needs. >> john: i had the honor of shooting a promo for this campaign for current with my little -- my little baby. he wound up making a cameo in it. i confess even i didn't realize how overwhelming the numbers are and how many americans do go to
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bed hungry. the refrain i hear all the time, we're the first country to have fat poor people. i'm constantly amazed at how common this is among people i know. to which i say that's because we don't have food. a 99 cent value menu at mcdonald's is lot more accessible than organic produce and you have to be rich to eat like adam and eve did in the garden of eve. >> you're right. it is about access to affordable nutritious food. hunger and obesity are many ways flip sides of the same malnutrition coin. you see those things. communities, families. >> john: people don't get it. they're not eating food. they're eating crap that the body doesn't digest right. you can see poor people who have obesity problems. it is not because they're overfed. >> we did a survey of low-income americans called it's dinnertime report. over 800 % of those folks said that -- over 800 % of those folks said they wanted to be eating healthy. four in five are tooking from home at least five days a week.
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it bashes a lot of the stereotype that exists. low income families, you know, and fast food all the time. the biggest problem that they had is they don't think that nutritious food is affordable. and that -- number one -- >> john: a lot of families feel that way. >> there are strategies and we work with those families to help teach those families, empowering skills about how you can eat healthy nutritious and affordable. so when you go to the supermarket, there's some produce that may make sense seasonally to get fresh but there's others you can get frozen or canned, save a few dollars and still get the same nutritional bang for the buck. reading unit prices on the bottom of the shelves. really crucial skill to figure out how to make your dollars go further. >> john: are these the kind of tools you try to help lower income families develop to develop the skills to be able to live more on a budget and be able to -- you know, what can people do who want to help, who don't have money to donate? people who are struggling themselves but still care about
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this issue. >> go to no kid hungry.org. take the pledge. we will ask you to stand up and become an activist on this issue. whether or not it's helping in your local community, whether or not it's advocating to congress. whether or not it's volunteering at your local school. we need to build this grassroots movement to be able to end childhood hunger. we think we have a unique opportunity in obama's second term to be able to do that. >> john: how do you feel about the election results? >> well, you know, we feel that this is a great opportunity. president obama pledged during the 2008 campaign to end childhood hunger. when you look at the exit polls the segment of the population that went heaviliest for obama was a segment making $50,000 and under. really was the working class and the working poor. who ended up going for obama in big numbers. even though so much of the debate in the campaign was about the middle class. >> john: do those folks have
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reason to be optimistic now? >> i think they do. when you look over the last four years, the agriculture department secretary tom vilsack has done a tremendous job in essentially getting kids more access to nutrition programs. we expect that we will build on that and that there is a true opportunity now to do something about poverty in this country. and that essentially we believe there can be a bipartisan ability to do that. >> john: josh wachs of no kid hungry. the work you're doing is procapitallism. it is patriotic and it is prospirituality in every sense of the word. thank you for your service and best of luck to you on the campaign. please go to nokidhungry.org. on twitter at no kid hungry. thank you. >> thank you. >> john: we'll be right back with dean obeidallah on the "bill press show."
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perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv.
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current tv, it's been all building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are
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hungry for it. >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> john: this is not stevie wonder. who is this, dan? this is a cover of higher ground right? >> yep. >> john: do you know who's doing it? it is not rage. who is it? >> red hot chili peppers. >> john: this is the blind boys of alabama. fantastic version of this. >> cool. >> john: the great stevie wonder. i got to see him do this a couple of times. this is the "bill press show." you're listening to the red hot chili peppers covering stevie wonder. how hip is that. we're take your calls at 1-866-55-press. i want to say also that general
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petraeus has left the c.i.a. he is looking forward to having sex with crazy unstable married women in the private sector. so with that in mind, i want to welcome a good friend of mine, one of my favorite new york comedians, dean obeidallah is the star of laughing liberally off broadway and the founder and creator of the muslims are coming comedy tour and documentary of the same name. dean, it is a pleasure to welcome you wovens again to the "bill press show." thanks for join youing us. >> thanks for having me on. >> john: you're one of my favorite political comedians. i love the op-eds you do for cnn.com. i wanted to talk to with you about all of the issues going on this week. i guess that everything that we're talking about all began when the c.i.a. surveillance operatives misunderstood david petraeus when he first said i want to tap that. did you ever imagine that we would see a soap soap ra like this? it is like the jersey shore for rich people.
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people copulating left and right and these weird tampa socialites. i don't know where to begin. what's your take on petraeus gate? >> i think you're right on the head. jersey shore is going off the air. this is the perfect replacement. great show. it's got drama. it's got women fight. that's what you need. you have to get them a room. this internet stuff is no good. let's see the fight. if you're the c.i.a. director and you can't keep an affair secret, you should be fired. >> john: thank you very much. if you're in d.c. and anyone in d.c. who can't keep an extramarital affair secret does not deserve to run a spy agency. >> whoever is nominated to be his replacement should have to have an affair and see if we catch them. i'm not advocating cheating on your spouse. it is wrong but for the country -- take one for the team. >> john: best vetting we believe in. >> you should put it on a tv show. why not do it. >> john: you could balance the
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budget if you make it pay-per-view. dean, how embarrassing is it on the day -- on the day the new james bond film about a british spy opens the top american spy has to resign for having sex with one person? >> do you think that was courted with the studio? it seems to make the most sense. they've done a lot of other things for movie production. >> john: british men are laughing at our poor sexual prowess. >> we're going to release the movie and they tipped off the fbi. this comes out -- what a contrast. mi6 versus c.i.a. who is better at keeping secrets? mi6. it is a great movie. i love the movie. the guy has had a storied career. he's not truly a punch line yet because the other scandal diverted us from it. but he certainly -- jokes of late night comedy. >> john: dean, i wanted to ask your opinion on this as a muslim american because when you look
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at general petraeus' record, we've begun to see a lot of people in the press led by glen greenwald who wrote a terrific piece about the fact that maybe petraeus' career hasn't always been as stellar as a fawning media has presented it. when you look at the fact that he got to run the c.i.a. because he killed or helped kill so many people and then he loses the job because he made love to one person. >> right. there is certainly -- arab-american -- americans tweeting and putting on facebook, the guy could be in charge of a project that ends up killing thousands and thousands of innocent people. no problem. you move up. you have sex with somebody, you start sending e-mails and you have an affair. what kind of standard does that set? i'll be honest. that stuff isn't lost on the middle east. that stuff isn't lost on others in the world. other progressives especially when they go -- wow that's the line. it is not about -- wars and killing. it is about -- i'm not saying he directed intentionally killing civilians but you know, i'm
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saying -- >> john: -- >> policies that resulted in that. that was not even debated. >> john: you can make the rearing in iraq -- argument in iraq, he was with the sunnis. >> did he what he did. it is funny the other side comes up someone like glen greenwald who is doing a great job with what he writes. people send me his stuff all the time. americans love him. most americans love him. progressives one. in other own community, we have conservatives, too. we have liberals, too. i think thankfully, ones i know are progressives. >> john: it is the hard core right wing conservative christians and muslims who are making life very interesting for the rest of us. let's never forget that. i would like to ask you a bit about benghazi, dean, if we can. >> i'm on a time line. we have to have more hearings. oh, my gosh. how hard is it? i know the time line. i'm a comedian. i know the time line already. i saw congressman on cnn a
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republican going it is still unclear because you're stupid. it is not unclear the time line is clear! you want to say there was a cover-up but stop saying it is unclear. the time line. how could it be unclear? >> john: everyone who says the time line is unclear is leaving out a very important detail. i've mentioned it already this morning. i'm going to mention it again that we are -- our embassy was attacked over the innocence of muslims video in cairo. that attack has been forgotten. and it is completely reasonable to imagine the c.i.a. might have had their intel -- when we've already had attacks that day. in the case of the cairo embassy, there was a local egyptian tv personality who aired the clips over and over and over again and flaming tensions on 9-11, they stormed our embassy. they didn't hurt anyone. they took down the american flag. they hung an islamist flag. >> he's the howard stern of the middle east. >> john: his tv show got ratings. no offense howard. but so later in the day this
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same thing happened. and now the story keeps spiraling out of control. we're now -- i think if we attacks on the theories, we could -- the tax on the conspiracy theories, we could balance the budget by christmas. we were talk with zeke miller from "buzzfeed," you have media outlets and information clearing house on the left talking about the fact that miss broadwell petraeus' girlfriend gave a speech where she talked about the fact there was a prison the grounds of the consulate. so now it brings -- why would the c.i.a. have a prison in libya unless it was something that was used for renditions. now, suddenly, the story may blow up and it may even involve obama covering for bush and cheney. that's just a rumor. it just seems like now it's really starting to expand. and whereas the benghazi story despicable for how the tragic deaths of these four men have been exploited for cheap
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political gain. now it is all related. >> well and i watched clips yesterday of senator mccain on the floor of the senate talking and they make it seem like it is watergate. they really do. what's going on. and now with the election over, i mean we should get to the bottom of this. they can have hearings but there's still this politicizing of it that i wonder what their intention really is now because obviously election is gone. so is it to somehow hurt the president in this honeymoon period where he has some political capita tal and could get things done and continue with the attacks so any kind of capital -- any kind of mandate to get things done or goodwill is decimated by this. you know, i'm not sure. i think john mccain -- if he's still the same person is an honest and sincere about what he wants to get at here but i'm not sure what they're fishing for. >> john: one school of thought we've discussed today is that they do not want susan rice to have a shot at secretary of
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state because they want that to go to john kerry so they can have another senate seat in play. >> in massachusetts, i wonder what would happen -- i wonder if the governor up there might run or who would actually run it. i wonder if it is that much. the susan rice thing i've heard more and more about. or is it really the continuing drumbeat of attacks on president obama. not that we didn't attack president bush but not even a minute of respite or solitude here. >> john: if bill clinton proved one thing republicans are much more polite in the second term. dean, tell me, what were your muslim american friends and family, what were their reactions to the election results last week? >> well, they don't like democracy. [ laughter ] >> john: i know. >> inherently, we don't like the western ways, my friend. [ laughter ] they were very happy in that -- i'll put it this way. i perform and half the audience
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of muslim american. they were either pro obama or not going vote because they didn't like romney at all. so the ones who were active were active. but i really think this year, i noticed even those who didn't like obama much really worked against joe walsh against allen west. they raised money. muslims down there raising money for murphy to beat allen west. so they understand the importance of getting involved in democracy in the united states much more now this generation. i think you'll see more run for office which is great. >> john: dean, thank you for joining us. i know you have travelling to do. how can folks follow you? >> twitter is dean of comedy and my web site is also dean of comedy.com. i hope people follow me on twitter. >> john: dean obeidallah, thank you for joining us. we'll be right back with your calls on the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "full court press."
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>> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> john: this is the "bill press show." i'm john fuglesang taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. for the waning minutes of this broadcast. i will be with you again next week. this is stevie wonder's original version of "higher ground." great song. i want to recommend to all of all who care about good music the red hot chili peppers and blind boys of alabama is almost
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better than the chili peppers version. what a day. let me ask. >> question, dan. were you affected by the hurricane that much here in d.c.? how did d.c. fair? >> d.c. was fine. yes, there were power outages for sure. some minor localized flooding but nothing like what happened up in new jersey and up your way in new york. >> john: it was terrible. it is not a popular believe but my religion teaches me that hurricanes are god's punishment for pat robertson. and we had kind of a weird experience. i lived in greenwich village my whole life. i just moved uptown. i have a baby and i can't live in my shoe box anymore. my place is very, very small. the anne frank family was like "can we see something else"? we moved uptown and thought we had dodged the hurricane because we didn't lose power. i had all of the upper westside guilt. it was amazing because all of manhattan, they closed off all of the bridges and tunnels.
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manhattan was isolated from the rest of america which is how people of manhattan already view themselves. then i had a flood in my place downtown after the hurricane and then my storage unit was flooded with four feets of hudson river sewage water. >> oh! >> john: i would like to invite all of you climate change deniers to come and help me get the sewage smell out of my winter clothes because man there was some real destruction. it was really heartening to hear al gore call on obama to talk about a carbon tax and i think that you've got a lot of people who might not have believed in climate change science in new york and new jersey who have been converted in the last two weeks. it is a tragedy but it took something like this to help. i hope something good comes of it. i think the cover of bloomberg weekly, it is global warming stupid, will open a lot of brains. i applaud mayor bloomberg for endorsing barack obama. on the grounds of climate change. curiously, i endorsed him for three reasons.
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the media reported one. he endorsed him because of the abortion rights issue, of marriage equality and climate change. the media only mentioned the endorsement of climate change. >> that's all we talked about was climate change. that's the only thing that mattered. >> john: god bless the progressive media for talking about it because when the oceans are five degrees warmer in november than they're supposed to be, don't be is your priced when -- surprised when tough like this happens. if you don't believe in climate change science try to find one climate change scientist who is buying beachfront property because it is tough. taking your calls at 1-866-55-press. i want to just play a couple of sound bytes from yesterday before we wrap. we played earlier the president but i would like to just play the first two cuts again if we can, dan. the president defending secretary rice. >> obama: let me say specifically will susan rice. she has done exemplary work. she has represented the united
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states and our interests in the united nations with skill and professionalism and toughness and grace. >> john: i said secretary rice. of course, i meant ambassador rice. secretary rice is the other rice who, you know, exploited a terror attack to get us into a war. that was acceptable. that was good bad intel. so i would like to play the third cut. this is the president talking about david petraeus. upon his resignation. >> obama: general petraeus had an extraordinary career. he served this country with great distinction. in iraq, in afghanistan and as head of the c.i.a. >> john: there are those who would, of course, disagree with that. and who would say that general petraeus caused us to spend a lot more money and resources than we needed to. but can you play the next quote? this is again the president yesterday. >> obama: it is also possible that had we been told, then you would be sitting here asking a
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question about why were you interfering in a criminal investigation. so i think it is best right now for us to just see. >> john: i like the fact he can call it a criminal act in benghazi while also pointing out that it was a terrorism attack because terrorism is a criminal act. that's why a war on terror makes no sense. you know, i think that we're going to see benghazi only get bigger. if governor romney had won, it would disappear as an issue. however, i think you're going to see the g.o.p. try to use it as much as they can. and again it is disgusting. i think that everyone out there listening has the right-winger who watches fox who they work with and their vocabulary is noun verb benghazi. i think one of the growing challenges for progressives in the weeks to come is going to be how do we get the facts to talk about benghazi because i don't think the progressive media has done enough. i don't think the mainstream media has done enough to talk about what's actually going on there. i think the story is going to
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revolve quite a bit but can we play governor romney really quickly? this is from yesterday. i think this is the most telling thing he said in quite awhile. mitt romney made his first public comments since losing the election in a telephone conference with his donors and some really fascinating content. let's play that. >> the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. and that strategy worked. >> john: okay. that's why he lost the election. right there. extraordinary free gifts from the government. he is talking about obamacare which he says is free stuff and he still says that it is also a tax. thanks mitt. good to know you hate the 47% afterall. we'll be right back after this on the "bill press show." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me.
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>>only on current tv. [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later.
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[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> john: is this the blind boys of alabama? >> it is. >> john: i'm so impressed. great vocals on this one. they all sound the same in the opening chords. i'm john fuglesang. it has been a real pleasure filling in for bill this morning. i will be here next week. monday tuesday and wednesday. sitting in the great man's chair and going through the great man's desk and rolodex. thanks bill. thanks for leaving the desk unlocked. i want to thank all of our guests on today's show starting with former congressman agriculture secretary dan glickman from the bipartisan policy center. their big fest is going on right now and you can follow them at bp cunderscore bipartisan.
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jonathan chait, read his new piece. zeke miller on the twitter. share our strength chief strategy officer josh wachs. that was a great interview. i applaud them. >> fascinating. >> john: i applaud them for fighting childhood hunger. nokidhunger on twitter. of course, comedian dean obeidallah. i'm john fuglesang. thank you, dan. always a pleasure to join you here. thanks for coming in. >> john: karl rove just redistributed all of the republican's wealth and the koch brothers are pretty mad. linda mcmahon spent $100 million of her own to lose two races in connecticut. finally, general petraeus, if you live in hollywood, we could have told you you don't sleep with the writer. we'll see you next week. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."
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